THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 833.— November. 1910, 



THE WILLOW-WEENS OF A LOTHIAN WOOD. 

 (With Map showing Position of Nests in 1910.) 



By S. E. Brock. 



Description of Wood. — The plantation with which the follow- 

 ing remarks deal is situated in the north-east of Linlithgowshire, 

 within a mile of the Midlothian border. It lies at an altitude of 

 rather less than 200 ft., is 25*999 acres in area, and is of very 

 mixed growth. Briefly described, the south and north-west 

 sections consist of thickly planted Scots-fir and spruce of con- 

 siderable age, shading the ground so closely that undergrowth 

 hardly survives except round the outskirts. The central and 

 eastern portions — which together include the larger part of the 

 whole wood — contain an irregular growth of young Scots-fir and 

 larch, chiefly the former, averaging 12-15 ft. in height. Bound 

 the edge of the wood is a broad border of well-grown trees of 

 various species — elm, ash, oak, Spanish chestnut, &c. — together 

 with such bushes as elder and guelder-rose. To the north the 

 wood ends in a long narrow strip, mainly deciduous in growth. 

 A wide ride runs round the outer edge ; a narrower one extends 

 north and south through the centre ; while a small burn flows 

 through from west to east. Main features of the undergrowth 

 are clumps of ferns of three species (Atkyrium filix-foemina, 

 Lastrcea filix-mas, and L. dilatata), and, in the more open parts, 

 clumps of Phalaris arundinacea — beloved of Whitethroats — and 

 beds of rose-bay (Epilobium angusti folium). 



Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIV., November, 1910. 2 i 



